By Business Insider Reporter
Tanzania has sharply expanded access to high-speed mobile networks, with 4G population coverage rising to 94.2 percent and 5G coverage reaching 30.1 percent by the end of 2025.
The National Council for Financial Inclusion (NCFI) says the development greatly strengthens the digital infrastructure underpinning the country’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
The latest NCFI figures are contained in its Annual Financial Inclusion Report 2025, which identifies telecommunications connectivity as an increasingly important enabler of access to and usage of formal financial services.
The 4G expansion represents a significant improvement from 88 percent recorded in December 2024, meaning that more than nine out of every 10 people in Tanzania were within reach of fourth-generation mobile networks by the end of last year.
At the same time, 5G population coverage increased from 20 percent in 2024 to 30.1 percent in 2025, marking a substantial expansion of the country’s next-generation mobile infrastructure.
“This year’s report reflects the remarkable progress Tanzania has made in implementing the Third National Financial Inclusion Framework (NFIF3)
2023–2028,” Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Governor and NCFI chair Emmanuel Tutuba notes in the recently published document.
“It demonstrates our collective commitment to ensuring that every Tanzanian has access to and effectively uses quality, affordable financial products and services that improve livelihoods and promote inclusive economic growth, he adds.
The Council attributes the 4G and 5G improvement to accelerated investment in telecommunications infrastructure, supported particularly by an increase in the number of telecom towers.
The number of telecommunications towers increased to 10,029 in 2025, providing a broader physical foundation for mobile connectivity and the delivery of digital services.
The expansion of high-speed networks comes as Tanzania’s overall telecommunications market continues to grow. According to the new report, telecommunications subscriptions increased by 23.1 percent to 106.9 million during 2025.
Smartphone penetration also improved, reaching 41.8 percent, up from 36 percent a year earlier.
The combination of wider network coverage and increasing smartphone adoption is creating the infrastructure needed for Tanzanians to move beyond basic mobile communications towards increasingly sophisticated digital services.
For the financial sector, this is particularly significant.
Mobile phones have become one of the principal channels through which Tanzanians access financial services, including payments, savings, credit and transfers. As network quality and smartphone access improve, consumers are increasingly able to use applications and digital platforms that require faster and more reliable internet connections.
The connectivity gains therefore complement the rapid expansion of Tanzania’s digital financial ecosystem.
The 2025 Financial Inclusion Report shows that active mobile money accounts increased by 6.7 percent to 75.8 million, while mobile money transactions reached 6.31 billion during the year. The number of mobile money agents also increased by 34.4 percent to about two million.
The telecommunications expansion is also taking place alongside improvements in basic infrastructure. The report notes that electricity access had reached all 12,318 villages in Mainland Tanzania, while rural hamlet connectivity stood at 52.3 percent by the end of 2025.
These developments are important because the benefits of digital finance depend not only on the availability of financial platforms but also on people’s ability to connect to them.
The growing 4G footprint is particularly important for extending reliable digital services to a larger share of the population, while the expansion of 5G provides the technological foundation for more data-intensive applications and future digital innovations.
However, the figures also highlight the remaining digital divide. While 4G coverage has approached nationwide levels, 5G remains available to less than one-third of the population, while smartphone penetration is still below half of the population.
For policymakers and industry players, the next challenge will therefore be to translate network availability into meaningful and affordable usage, particularly among rural communities, low-income households and other underserved groups.
BoT’s latest figures suggest that Tanzania is building an increasingly connected economy in which telecommunications infrastructure, smartphones and digital financial services are becoming closely intertwined. As 4G coverage approaches universal levels and 5G deployment accelerates, the country’s digital transformation is increasingly moving from a question of access to one of how effectively Tanzanians can use connectivity to participate in the digital economy.
